What better way to record the last milestones of the memory lane than to recall the early days of Industrial Economist, recounted with such nostalgia and pride in the 2013 April issue? Appropriately, the article began with an excerpt from the speech of a top industrialist of the South at the launch of IE’s precursor on 3 December 1962, five decades and a half to the month. With, then chief minister M Bhaktavatsalam, seated on the dais, A M M Mugurappa Chettiar, head of the Murugappa group of companies, said: "when Editor Viswanathan asked me to preside over the function, I agreed readily. As in everything else, whether in trade or industry or commerce, any spirit of adventure deserves to be welcomed. In the industry, I always welcome more and more of first generation entrepreneurs. In technology fields, I welcome the increase in the number of qualified and able technicians. In the sphere of publications too, I welcome explorations into new fields. It requires courage to enter this sphere on one's own. I also feel that, consistent with our growth in the industrial sphere and also the rapidity with which we are putting India in the industrial map of the world, it should add more number of specialised journals of specific interest. It is a matter of particular pleasure that our chief minister Sri M Bakthavatsalam is participating in this function." Two years earlier was born Mobile, a trade magazine devoted to transport and travel, and the young entrepreneur’s first foray into journalism after a brief stint with teaching economics at colleges.

No money no worry

The voyage from Mobile to Industrial Economist was brief but filled with adventure as the entrepreneur pursued his goal with a single-minded purpose – and on the philosophy "No money, no worry." His travel around the country by road and rail and then abroad, first to the U.K and then to Europe proved a turning point. Here is how: “the visit to Europe (it was said to be the first time that such facility was extended to a non-European journalist) provided deep insights into industry and management: Europe was booming with the post-war reconstruction almost complete. A single auto manufacturer, Volkswagen was producing 6200 cars a day! India was producing in three plants around 20,000. The visit led to the phasing out of Mobile and launch of IE.”

The April issue had more meaty developments to record: the DMK’s second departure, this time from the Congress-led UPA and the Tamil Nadu budget which continued to focus on welfare. “The absence of thrust on development, particularly reforming the agriculture sector to increase production, is a matter for concern,” said a comment.

In past forward mode...

The year 2014 saw a political sea change, and the country headed for it. History beckons Modi,’ proclaimed the cover of the June issue which came after the general election that saw the BJP led by Narendra Modi secure a majority in the Lok Sabha, breaking three decades of the rule at the Centre by coalitions. The headlines from the issue tell the story. “Imperative to take states along,” said Inklings, stressing that the Centre should foster close relations with the states, an area where the outgoing UPA II government failed. Editor’s notes compared the successful political strategy of Modi with that of J Jayalalithaa, followed by comments from a cross-section of leaders in business and industry. "Move forward in fast forward mode," advised the comment under Diplomacy, saying it was time to take relations with the neighbouring countries to a higher level. One commentary spoke in praise of the Gujarat model of development (less government, better governance) while other headlines included, "It is about attracting investments, stupid" and "Business wanted Modi to become PM, now it is time to back him up."

“GM technology: the myth and reality”, said the cover of the October 2014 issue. A day-long seminar sponsored by IE had one clear message: let scientists show the way on the efficacy of this technology. Most of the scientist-participants and others stressed the need for carefully moving forward with the use of this technology, one US-based scientist-administrator telling scientists, “you are a live witness that even after eating GM food you have survived,” urging India to go ahead and adopt the technology without fear. Hardly two months later, in January, then Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar announced in the Rajya Sabha the Modi government’s decision to permit research and field trials in genetically modified seed technology.

500 MT by 2025...

The February 2015 issue returned to IE’s interest and concern: agriculture. The cover said it clearly: Doubling output, 500 MT by 2025, not just desirable but feasible. “At present rates of growth, doubling food output may take 25 years. If we can achieve this in ten years, rural incomes and prosperity will improve dramatically, migration to cities will reduce and economic growth will increase,” said the preamble to the main article focussed on Krishi Samrudhi, a six-step process to improve productivity recommended by the Agriculture Consultancy Management Foundation promoted by IE which conducted experiments on productivity techniques on land provided on lease at no cost. March is for the Union budget and the month’s cover summarised the contents thus: “Jaitley’s Breakthrough budget.” After a threadbare analysis, the cover story concluded, "Jaitley has made a good beginning; the government should build on this by persisting with this new thrust right through the year."

Et Tu Volkswagen?

The cover of the October issue must have proved quite a puzzle. It read: Das Auto to Bust Pronto. Et Tu VW? It, in fact, told the shocking story of a fraudulent act committed by that German icon, carmaker Volkswagen. Written from Chicago by Bala Swaminathan, it began thus: “over several decades, the VW Group expanded and expanded. It became the largest automobile group in the world in 2014, pipping Toyota by just a few thousand units. All in all, the company was doing quite well and poised to continue its excellent trajectory. That is what VW would have wished at least. But then, strange things were set in motion. A US non-profit organisation called The International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), hired West Virginia University to do standard emission tests on diesel cars in America mainly to validate and talk about the hype diesel cars have been getting all over the world and of how the US could benefit from this. As the biggest hype and the boldest claims came from Volkswagen, the lead researcher at the University’s labs, a Chennai-educated Research Assistant Professor, Dr Arvind Thiruvengadam, tested a couple of that company’s cars. In none of the road or lab tests, the research team was able to get the low emissions that VW was claiming. After ensuring that their processes and findings were accurate, Dr Thiruvengadam and team reported the concerns to ICCT, which in turn alerted the US Environmental Protection Agency. Volkswagen could force their software to hide the amount of nitrogen oxides being emitted but not force the US EPA and public opinion to look past this. Volkswagen’s CEO, Martin-Winterkorn, the highest paid corporate executive in Europe, resigned in the wake of the scandal. $28 billion was wiped out of the group’s market capitalisation in just the first two days after the scandal broke!”

When the ghost of anti-incumbency was exorcised...

"Jaya Ho" on the June 2016 cover hailed the victory of the AIADMK, the handiwork of its leader J Jayalalithaa who single-handed strategised the campaign, led it, and won it so decisively. In this she has also set up several records: after 32 years, a party in power managed to retain power. The ghost of anti-incumbency was exorcised." The December cover had an image of the Prime Minister, with "War against black money" stamped on it. The cover story began with an interesting dialogue in which a chartered accountant wanted his payment in cash or in the name of a surrogate and no TDS, setting the background for the article. In an interview, Dr C Rangarajan, former governor of the Reserve Bank who had served as the chief economic adviser to then Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, welcomed demonetisation but wished that there had been better preparations that would have helped mitigate the inconvenience caused. Six months after the “Jaya Ho” cover, she was featured on the cover in the January 2017 issue following her death the previous month. “Jaya walks into the sunset” said a commentary by the editor.

The year 2017 proved to be the year when the BJP proved that its Lok Sabha election sweep was no flash in the pan. A series of major victories in Assembly elections, including UP, was topped in December by a sixth-time win in Gujarat and return in Himachal Pradesh.

IE, the business magazine from south was launched in 1968 and pioneered business journalism in south. Through the 45 years IE has been focusing on well-presented and well-researched articles. When giants in the industry stumbled to keep pace with the digital revolution, IE stayed affixed embracing technology.